Improvement in draw-bars for street-cars



J. W. LAW. Draw-Bar for Street-Oars.

No. 203,28l. 4 Patented May 7,1878.

N PEYERS PHOTO-UTHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON o c .when detached from the car,

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

JDHN' W. LAW, OF BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN DRAW-BARS FOR STREET-CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a clear and exact description of the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

The object of this invention is to produce a simple device for attachingwhiffletrees to cars,

which also serves to cause said whiffletrees, to slide easily over theground without coming in contact with the hind legs of the horses.

My invention consists in attaching to the center of the beam, to which apair of whiffletrees are hung, a solid metal link, which is provided atits extreme outer end with an opening, into which the beam is placed,and there pivoted by a suitable pin or bolt. The rear end of this linkis bent slightly downward, and extends in a straight line backward. Thelink is thus formed as a shoe for the whiffletree to slide along theground when detached from the car. The rear part of this link-shoe isplaced into the opening of a coupling-head attached to a car, and heldtherein by a spring coupling-pin which passes through a hole in the rearpart of the link-shoe.

In order to describe my invention more fully I refer to the drawings, ofwhich- Figure 1 is a plan view of a pair of whiffletrees embodying myinvention, and showing the same attached to the coupling-head of a car.Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detached view of thelink-shoe.

A is a pair of whiffletrees, consisting of the beam B, to which are hungthe single-trees 0 Patent No. 203,281, dated May 7, 1878 applicationfiled January 25, 1878.

0. D is the link-shoe, so called because it serves as a link in couplingthe whiffletree to the car, and also as a shoe in causing the saidwhiffletree to be dragged easily along the ground. This link-shoe isprovided at the end d with an opening,-d into which is placed at thecenter the beam B, where it is pivoted and held in place by thepivot-pin S. The rear end 61 of this link-shoe is bent into the shapeshown in Fig. 3, and provided with a hole, 01

F is the coupling-head, attached to the car in the usual manner. Thefront end of this head is flanged outward and provided With an opening,which extends inward a short distance. Through the upper and lower wallsof this opening are out two holes, into which are placed the arms 9 g ofthe coupling-pin G.

The arm g is provided with a head or nut, 9 and encircled by a spiralspring, g which habitually presses the coupling pin down. The other arm,9, is intended to enter the hole 01 in the link-shoe, and to hold thesame to the coupling-head. The upper parts of these arms are bent intothe form of a hook-handle, which enables the driver to raise the pinwhen the link is inserted.

Having thus described my invention, I desire to claim The link-shoe D,as described, with opening d and hole d, in combination with beam B ofwhiflletree A, coupling-pin G, with arms g g, and coupling-head F,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

JOHN W. LAW.

Witnesses JOSEPH L. TnoMPsoN, J. F. PANCAKE.

